Love Courtney

American musician who reinvented herself several times, first as the vocalist and lead of her band "Hole," second as the wife of the tortured superstar Kurt Cobain, and finally, through the transformation of gutter grunge into Versace model in a ten-page spread in Vanity Fair. Courtney was born to classic hippie parents in the mid-sixties. Her dad traveled with the cult band "The Grateful Dead," of which he wrote several books. Her mom was a free-spirited woman who did not giver her daughter the emotional attention she so much needed. Her parents went on to divorce a few years after Courtney was born. Courtney was a moody, hyper-active child who was prone to nightmares and tantrums. From the age of two, her mom took her to see psychologists. Courtney gained two half-sisters when her mother remarried and moved to New Zealand, leaving her behind in America. She was then shuffled from relatives homes to foster homes until she turned 16 and won legal emancipation through the courts and lived on a small trust fund her grandparents had set up for her. As an adult, she and her dad are bitter enemies. Courtney started her band in 1989 and they released a debut album two years later, "Pretty on the Inside." Her first album with her band "Hole" in 1991 earned them the title of "most promising new group." In the UK, she had achieved distinction as the first female musician to trash her guitar on stage. She gained further notoriety for her temper and provocative, outspoken and confrontational behavior. She met Kurt Cobain in 1991 just as he was rising to fame with his band, Nirvana, putting out "Nevermind." On 24 February 1992, she married Cobain, the troubled singer/poet/songwriter/frontman. Several months later, on 18 August 1992, their daughter was born, Francis Bean Cobain. In a magazine article, Courtney was reported as saying she used heroin while pregnant. As a result, the Los Angeles Childrens Services began action to take their daughter away. It was a long and painful battle which the Cobains ultimately won in March 1993. The media called the union a bad career move because of the "groupie" label which is often attached to women who marry rock stars. They also attacked her and Cobains drug use and their tumultuous marriage. The marriage may have been tormented, but it was also loving, and Love was devastated when Cobain killed himself on 5 April 1994. It was co-incidental with the release of Holes second album, "Live Through This." She was further dismayed by the death of bass player Kristin Pfaff on 15 June 1994. Nonetheless, the album went platinum a year later, breaking the sales mark of a million copies and was named best album of the year by Rolling Stone and Spin magazines. Through 1995, Love was the focus of attention, most of it critical. She was arrested twice and she offended many with her antics, offstage and on, as well as her outrageous postings on the internet. In 1996, she amazed her critics with the brilliant performance she carried off in "The People vs. Larry Flynt," playing Flynts wife Althea. She wanted that part so badly that she went through a detox program, as the film execs would not sign her if she tested positive for drugs. She not only became dry and clean, but appeared with her hair and skin washed, with style and makeup and couturier fashion, looking fabulous. The actor Edward Norton was seen by her side with growing frequency. A Yale graduate, reserved about his private life. Love commented, "Edwar Read less